50|50 Episode 34 Season 7: 6 October 2016

Sylvester the escape artist:

Usually, it is movie stars and sportsmen that steal the headlines in the news and gossip magazines but there is one particular lion that has built up a reputation for himself in the media, he is known as Sylvester. Sylvester achieved global fame by twice escaping from the Karoo NP in an effort to avoid the competition, two older male lions. For 3 weeks last June, he evaded his human pursuers and used his freedom to kill 28 sheep and roam nearly 300 km before he was located taking a well-earned nap. He repeated this escape act a second time earlier this year, risking potentially fatal retaliation from exasperated park officials who were worried about the threat he posed to human live. But now, in a turn of good fortune, Sylvester has the opportunity to become a dominant male in his own right. Will a new home be what he needs to quell his thirst for adventure?
Doodsbenoud: Berg Adder bite

In autumn this year, a family on holiday in Betty’s Bay had their festivities cut short when a puzzling predicament overcame their young son. Soon after enjoying a walk through the dunes with his grandpa, Jamie Grantham took seriously ill and before the day was up, he had slipped into a comatose state. For parents watching terrified from the side-lines, their panic only grew as baffled doctors shook their heads and wrung their hands – until Jamie’s dad remembered that his son had apparently stepped on a thorny branch while out on his walk. What if that branch had not been a branch at all?

Wonderwêreld: Dassies

While it may look like a guinea pig, the Dassie is in fact an extremely specialized herbivore with numerous incredible adaptations that equip it for its communal lifestyle amongst inhospitable rocky habitats. In English, these animals are known as rock or tree hyraxes, but the colloquial name “dassie” seems to have stuck after Dutch settlers first referred to the animal as a “das”, the Dutch word for badger. In this week’s Wonderwêreld we discover that these are not only interesting animals but entertaining ones too.
VeldFokus:

The avian world takes the spotlight in this week’s VeldFokus, with our feathered friends showing off for the cameras. A young Green-backed heron does an impressive gymnastic routine, while a pair of Yellow hornbills take to the ring in an epic battle.